HAVANA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Recent threats made by U.S. President Donald Trump about a "possible military option" in Venezuela constitute a "serious aggression" to Latin America and the Caribbean, a Cuban professor said here on Saturday.
Luis Suarez, a Cuban professor on international relations, reckons this direct threat as an explicit violation of the declaration of Latin America and the Caribbean as a peace zone, signed in Havana in 2014 by all presidents of the region during the annual summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.
"Part of the essential content of the declaration is that all countries reject not only military aggression but also any threats to use force as part of the mechanism of relations between nations of the hemisphere," he told Xinhua.
Trump said on Friday, "We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option, if necessary."
His remarks came amid growing tensions between Washington and Caracas over Venezuela's controversial Constituent National Assembly (ANC) formed after an election late last month.
The United States has imposed a series of sanctions on Venezuelan individuals involved in the ANC, including Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, to support the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), which boycotted the July 30 election as it claimed the ANC would only consolidate the power of the ruling party.
Suarez said the new escalation of Trump's remarks is a "direct aggression" to the peace and independence of Latin America and the Caribbean.
According to Suarez, the U.S. military option in Venezuela could be carried out under the pretext of a "humanitarian intervention."
"What Trump said somehow opens up all the options that have been assessed by Washington regarding Venezuela," Suarez said.
Suarez said Trump's words are part of a "plan" carried out in the last few months to topple the Venezuelan leader and "implode" the nation with severe food and medicine shortages.
The expert said Washington has been trying to "legitimize" its policy of aggression against Caracas in the last few weeks to justify a possible military intervention.
"This U.S. administration has a deep inclination to militarism and that simply has to be denounced," he said.
In this context, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence heads to four Latin American countries, Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Panama in the next few days.
"The U.S. vice president specifically visits four of the governments that have been very active throughout this operation of aggression and pressure against Venezuela," said Suarez.
